Jacques Jacobus "Vleis" Engelbrecht (born 10 June 1985) is a South African professional rugby union player, currently playing in France with French Pro D2 side Montauban. He can play as a flanker or a number eight.
Career
Youth / amateur rugby / Western Province
Engelbrecht played high school rugby for Monument Park High School, where he played as a flanker for their first team in 2002 and 2003. He represented in the 2005 Under-21 Provincial Championship and played club rugby for Hamiltons in the Western Province Super League. He was one of a number of club players that trained with squad during their 2007 Currie Cup Premier Division campaign and he got an opportunity to make one appearance for them, coming on as a replacement in their final match of the regular season to make his first class debut in a 37–7 victory over . He made one more appearance for them the following season, starting their 2008 Vodacom Cup semi-final match against the , where they suffered a 22–27 defeat.
SWD Eagles
Engelbrecht moved to George prior to the 2008 Currie Cup First Division to join the . He made three starts and five appearances off the bench in the competition as the Eagles finished third on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. One of Engelbrecht's starts was in their semi-final match against the , but he ended the match on the losing side, with the team from Welkom – and eventual champions – running out 27–17 winners.
Engelbrecht started the 2009 Vodacom Cup playing as a winger for the SWD Eagles in their 43–20 victory over the in Uniondale, but reverted to his more accustomed loose-forward role for the remainder of the campaign, making a total of six appearances as the side finished in second spot on the Southern Section log before losing to the in the quarter finals of the competition. Engelbrecht featured in a compulsory friendly match against the before making ten appearances in the 2009 Currie Cup First Division. The SWD Eagles finished the round-robin stage of the competition in second position on the log to qualify for the semi-finals. Engelbrecht started their 31–18 victory over the in the semi-final and also in the final, where he ended on the losing side, with Mpumalanga-based side the winning the title by beating them 47–19. As runners-up, the SWD Eagles still qualified for the promotion play-offs and Engelbrecht started both matches against the . They lost 42–47 in the first leg in Potchefstroom and an 18–17 victory in the second leg was not enough to get the SWD Eagles promoted.
By 2010, Engelbrecht had established himself as a first-team regular and started six of their seven matches in the 2010 Vodacom Cup, but his side had a poor season compared to 2009 and failed to qualify for the quarter finals, winning just two of their matches in the competition. He played in a compulsory friendly match against in Oudtshoorn and featured in all ten matches during the regular season of the 2010 Currie Cup First Division, starting nine of those. Engelbrecht scored the first points of his career, getting the first of the SWD Eagles' eight tries in their 55–47 victory over the in Kempton Park, although this occasion was spoiled by Engelbrecht also getting sin-binned for the final few minutes of the match. The SWD Eagles had a far more successful season than their Vodacom Cup campaign and finished top of the log to qualify for the semi-finals with home advantage. Engelbrecht scored the second try of his career in the SWD Eagles' 32–30 victory over the in their semi-final and also started the final, where his side fell just short, losing 12–16 to the . In addition to losing in the final for the second consecutive year, the SWD Eagles also failed to win promotion for the season year in a row. They once again faced the in the promotion play-offs, but could not overcome a 22–37 defeat in the first leg, with a 32–28 victory in the second leg proving to not be enough.
His performances during the course of the season led to him being nominated as the First Division Player of the Season, although the award was eventually won by winger Norman Nelson.
South African Sevens
Shortly after the Currie Cup season finished, Engelbrecht was included in the South Africa Sevens squad that played in the 2010 South Africa Sevens tournament, where they won the Plate tournament. This turned out to be his only selection in the Blitzbokke squad.